He said: “I would like to congratulate all the political parties and their representatives who supported this bill.

Mr Saeed said the main beneficiaries of this would be religious minorities who have concerns that their underage girls are kidnapped, forced to convert to Islam and then marry their kidnappers.

Mr Saeed especially thanked the Pakistan Peoples Party and Sherry Rehman, saying the party has always looked after the religious minorities’ interests and stood for their rights.

Mr Saeed said: “The passing of this bill is a great thing, but the implementation will be equally important and if the government fails to implement this law like it has with serval other laws, then people won’t benefit from it.

Especially the minorities who are very concerned about their daughters being kidnapped, forced to convert and then marry their kidnappers against their will.”